- Saul Bellow, The Dangling Man (1944), The Victim (1947)
- Gwendolyn Brooks, A Street in Bronzeville (1945), "The White Troops Had Their Orders But the Negroes Looked Like Men" (1945), Annie Allen (1949)
- Arthur Miller, All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949)
Executive Order 9066 signed by President Roosevelt, ordering all persons of Japanese ancestry out of the Pacific military zone to inland internment camps (1942; ends 1945)
All Girls Professional Baseball League (1943-54)
Filipino Naturalization Act (1946)
Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to officially play Major League Baseball (1947)